Two pedestrians struck by vehicles in same place minutes apart

Two people are in the hospital tonight after being struck by vehicles in the same place, minutes apart. KLEW News Reporter Shannon Moudy is in studio with the odd circumstances of these two cases.

Lewiston police and medics responded to the call of an injured person at the Liberty Mart in north Lewiston around 10:00 Thursday night. The man, identified as John O’Neill Junior, had been hit and dragged by a car. O’Neill was seriously hurt, and is still at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

This is an on-going investigation. LPD is working to put the pieces together on what exactly happened. What they do know is that O’Neill was struck by a vehicle near the intersection of Highway 12 and 3rd Avenue, North. They don’t know if he was in the crosswalk or not, but after the impact, the vehicle that hit him left the scene, and O’Neill actually walked over to the Liberty Mart, that’s when someone called police.

Officers remained at the scene investigating, including interviewing witnesses. 45-minutes later…this happened.

LPD Lt. Jeff Klone said, "One of the witnesses, to the original accident, was crossing the street in the crosswalk. And a semi-tractor trailer was making a left turn to go onto 3rd Avenue North and as she was crossing he turned and actually struck her in the crosswalk."

Lieutenant Klone said surveillance video of this second incident shows the pedestrian did have a walk signal and the right-of-way. This second accident is being investigated by Idaho State Police.

As for the first vehicle pedestrian crash, that driver came forward and is now cooperating with police. No arrests have been made at this time, and Lewiston Police are still trying to gather information.

If you witnessed the accident near the Liberty Mart in north Lewiston, or have any other information about this case, you’re asked to contact Lewiston Police.